Hands for Humanity

Misty Watson
mistywatson@daltoncitizen.com

Sat, May 17 2008

— Like many college students, Malisa Cawood knew she wanted to do something memorable during her spring break.
She chose a trip to New Orleans with 19 other students from Dalton State College.
But they weren’t there to party or tour the city.
They were there to build houses with Habitat for Humanity — in areas where it looks like Hurricane Katrina hit a few days ago, instead of in August 2005.
“I couldn’t think of a better thing to do for my spring break, really — nothing that’s going to make a lasting difference,” said Cawood, a 21-year-old education student at Dalton State. “I gave up a little bit (by not vacationing during spring break), but it didn’t compare to what I gained in the end.”
Students with the college’s Baptist Collegiate Ministries worked with Habitat from 7:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., then went to the Carver Baptist Center to work with children who participate in the center’s after school program until about 5:30 p.m. each day of their spring break earlier this month.
The group worked on several of the houses being built in the “Musician’s Village,” which will consist of 72-single-family Habitat built homes for musicians and other qualifying families in New Orleans, according to the New Orleans’ area Habitat for Humanity Web site.
The village is near the Upper 9th Ward, which is where one of the levees broke following Katrina.
“I will not forget how (that area) looked,” Cawood said. “The houses are still there and completely demolished. There were houses off their foundations. And we’re coming two years later — going on three years later. I can only imagine what it looked like immediately after.”
Terah Welch, a 20-year-old Dalton State College student, said she thought the city “was going to look a lot better than it did.”
“The majority of the houses aren’t done, and there’s still a lot of people without homes,” she said. “It’s really sad.”
Tyson Welch, an 18-year-old business administration management freshman, was also shocked at the scenes after Katrina.
“It seems like two years later, America’s kind of forgotten what it’s really like down there,” he said. “You don’t know until you experience it firsthand how bad it is.”
Tyson Welch saw a homeless village under a bridge in the city.
“It is about 400 homeless people,” he said. “Tents are scattered everywhere. It looks like a colony. These homeless people have jobs and work 9 to 5, but can’t afford a place to live ... Almost all of them were displaced because of Katrina.”
Students say they were glad to be a part of the reconstruction of New Orleans.
“Knowing I helped someone who ... had their house taken from them all of a sudden was a blessing to me,” Terah Welch said. “I enjoyed every single minute of it. I have a heart for missionary work, and that’s what I’m going to do with my life. I was proud when I came back home to go to school and say ‘I helped build a house this week’ or ‘I helped someone’s life this week.’”
Cawood says she had not swung a hammer before going on the trip, but she spent a large portion of her trip framing rooms inside the house.
“It was good,” she said. “It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. They don’t give you anything you aren’t capable of doing. It would be cool one day to go back and say ‘I helped build that house’ or ‘I built that porch.’ We were helping their livelihood and dreams.”
Tyson Welch met some of the families receiving Habitat homes.
“My heart went out to them,” he said. “I went to give something back to the community that was devastated in Katrina. God really weighed it on my heart that if I was in need, then I would want someone to come help me also. I didn’t really expect to get as much out of it as I did.
“This made me think of what I should be thankful for. People should be thankful for what they’ve got because in a blink of an eye it could all change. As long as we have it good, we take everything for granted. Thank God for what you have.”
Students helped children at the center with homework, played with them and had nightly devotionals with them.
Sophomore Bobby Reed, 25, was making his third trip to the center in New Orleans.
“They had a baptism at the mission where we stayed, and to see them continually following God is the most amazing thing,” Reed said. “They are so willing to accept Christ right now. They are looking for help, and right now, a lot of people are turning to drugs or alcohol. To be able to show them that there’s more to life than drugs and alcohol, that God is in charge of everything, that’s why I go.”

To learn more, visit http://www.habitat-nola.org/projects/musicians_village.php.

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